Let's Try This
by polito4547
Summary: From a far away region in space, the Crystal Blossoms are dispersed throughout space. Alex, a survivor of the explosion that took place almost 13.5 billion years ago arrives to Earth. He is able to join Steven and the Crystal Gems. He decides to join them both parties learning from each other, and a bond of friendship growing. Hope cannot be lost, not here, not now.
1. The Beginning

His eyes open, adjusting to a vast darkness. It feels impossible to move, but he gathers himself and with determination set in his eyes, he marches forwards. Upon taking his first step, he feels his world rumble. In an instant a blue plasma like substance engulfed his world. It was bright, in fact it was the only source of light that he has encountered since his waking. His eyes adjusted, before him, a swirling of light, or in this case plasma, like a flame. It was dark, and as it reached closer to the center of where he stood, the more it changed color, temperature rising as it got closer. Upon the smallest of particle of this plasma like substance touching the extremely dark ground, light flooded his vision, everything was bright, except the ground he stood on. It was almost as if whatever ground he saw, devoured this light. The color originally started as a really bright blue, however as time progressed, the color slowly turned white, devoid of color, but radiating an opposite for of nothingness. Another entity could be felt, it was near and it felt as if it was waking from a dormant phase. And suddenly, with a massive burst of energy, sending ripples across another dimension of space that had visible darkness, and specks of light scattered, presented itself to him. "Both of you seem unscathed." The young life form turned around to see a gathered group, massive in size. A dark blue colored being floated towards both of the newly formed ones, "Welcome to life, welcome to The Bouquet!" The dark blue being allowed for both of them to take in the sight of the massive planet system that revolved around a sun. The galaxy held four suns inside its swirling space dust, and each one had about two planets rotating around it. "So what do you think?" asked the interrogator. "It's breathtaking," breathed out the one next to the dark being. The dark blue being then turned to the silent one with expecting eyes. "This is indeed a sight to behold," the dark one let his words linger, trying to figure out what to follow up with, "but it feels distant. What is this place?" Many of the others being to cast their sight downwards. "It was home of the Crystal Blossom people," the dark blue flower said. Upon ending that statement, the dark blue flower turned and watched as an invisible force began to engulf the system of stars and planets.

Both the white colored blossom looked on with heavy emotion, while the dark colored one simply took in the sight. A massive hole, so to say, was barreling towards them, and even though light years away, let out a massive blast of energy. This black hole was flying at an incredible speed, almost as if launched from something else. Either way, at first it was the essence of the sun being taken, then in the blink of an eye, a massive blast was felt as the speeding black hole simply crashed into the sun causing a massive amount of radioactive energy to ripple away. Upon it hitting the first sun, all of the others were sucked in, and a large explosion, with debris flying everywhere. The black hole collapsed under its weight and it bit of more that it could chew, but it came with a catastrophic price. The impact was so powerful, that our group of people where scattered by its force. His instincts took over, shielding the fragile looking flower with his body as they were sent through space.

Distance traveled was unfathomable, but within seconds I was galaxies away, and in empty spot in this vacuum. As far as I could see, the balls of radiating light were nowhere to be seen. I looked down, expecting to see the light colored flower being in front of me, only to be surprised with another form of life. It had a green body, and white leafs on the top and all of this sat on a green, flimsy platform. I steeled myself, and began to relax and concentrate, if I was able to stop on the spot from when I was hurdled away, then I should also be able to propel myself to a destination.

A small planet began to appear before me. It was massive in size and was orbiting a sun like most planets would. It had an outer white appearance, a few sparkles could be seen, as if something was reflecting off light. Curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to land on the surface. Upon getting close, I noticed that there was a light barrier to enter, making me realize that this planet has an atmosphere of some kind. The planet was dry and dusty, save for a few rivers and lakes. Water ran through underground systems, showing that it was clean and not polluted. Small animals of vibrant colors could be see running throughout the white desert. I approached a small group of animals that were huddling together, as if partaking in a ceremony of sorts. They immediately scattered upon seen me leaving behind shards of a green colored rock. No, it isn't a plain rock, it seems much more refined, smooth, structurally sound and most of all see through for the most part. I gathered all of the shards together, and like a jigsaw puzzle, I assembled them back as one. I carefully placed this delicate puzzle between my hands and spared a little of my energy to this rock, and as if on queue, the rock began to take form. A small creature sprouted from the light that was generated. A small smile appeared on my face, and quickly began to search the planet for a nearby lake. I placed White Lotus on the lake and surrounded her with a bubble to protect her of other creatures. I began to spread my energy among this planet and allowing for any other gems, as I am now calling them, to come to life. And come to life they did, it took a few years, but the first gem that emerged was a tall, female-esque figure.. Her color was transparent, clear, but the light that bounced off of her were reds, yellows, and blues. I met her gaze, "Hello," was the greeting I received. "Where am I?" asked the radiant gem. Truly stumped, I replied with the most logical answer, "Homeworld, your place of origin in this life." I explained to her that others should begin to emerge as their composition completes, "Be sure to explain to them that this is their home." The gem nodded her head, "I shall, but as their leader, what are you going to do?" I stopped my train of thought, "I should have been more specific, this is your Homeworld, I'm a simple passerby that just so happened to have witnessed potential in this planet. Therefore, you are the leader of this here planet." I paused and turned towards my galaxy that was a couple billion light years away. "Don't let this world become like mine, trapped by another force, I should take my leave." The gem extended her arm, "Don't leave, at least not yet. Stay and witness the other ones emerge." I succumbed to her plea and decided to stay a few million year overseeing the planet and its development.

Throughout her reign, if you could call it that, I oversaw Great Diamond manage her planet. I saw her spread her teaching of connecting with others and forming relationships of family, friends, and significant others. I witnessed and experienced wars come and go here on their Homeworld planet and I saw them celebrate their victory against impossible odds. I gathered information from them like, how they can retreat into their gems to regenerate, a trait that I envy to this day along side not needing food drink or slumber. Us Crystal Blossoms don't exactly need food and water, for we can obtain most of our required nutrients from naturally occurring light, though we wont be at peak performance with only sunlight. However, we cannot regenerate as quickly as the Gem people and we also need sleep in order to let our organic structure relax and relieve stress. With that I decided that it was time to leave the planet, however Great Diamond wouldn't let me leave without the planet throwing a celebratory departure party. "Gems, throughout this beautiful planet, we gather here today to bid farewell to this brave traveler, who brought this planet to life, who made us who we are today!" There was an explosive roar, a cheer of everyone waving goodbye as I proceed to galaxy jump once more. "We will have a spaceship ready for you in a few seconds-" I put my hand out cutting him off. "No need, but grateful that you would be willing to offer a ride." And within a blink of an eye, I shot through the atmosphere of the planet towards quadrant 605 of the universe and labeled by the Gem colony as EXO 35-1a.


	2. Meeting Steven and the Gems

"That's so cool!" exclaimed the young boy that sat in front of me as his friend seemed just as intrigued. "So you have lived here since the beginning?" Asked the young girl with the same starry eyes that her close friend had. "Of course young one, the large reptile resembling creatures began to die out after the collision of a massive asteroid hit the planet." I paused for just a moment to see her reaction, and as expected, she had impressed written all over her face. "However, it could have also been the massive amount of movement the earth was doing, changing temperature almost drastically killing off many species of dinosaurs and insects alongside other mammals and nautical creatures with it. In order to survive, their bodies began to change to accommodate." I noticed that the sun had begun had set, and civil twilight begin to cover the town with its painted sky. "So there are others of you?" asked the young boy. I merely smiled and patted his head, "You should prepare to return to your guardians, we shall meet again Steven." Stars shone in his eyes as I turned to the young girl, "You too, Connie." Both seemed starstruck. "Your fight against the giant worm was impressive you two, keep up the good work on keeping this city safe." I was about to walk away, before I was stopped by Steven, "You just have to come and meet the Crystal Gems!" I didn't know how to react. I decided to chance it, "Sure, why not young one?" and in a swirl of flower petals, the three of us appeared on the board walk where Connie's parent's could be seen pulling up nearby. "Thank you Mr. Lotus!" waved Connie as she got into the car of her controlling parents. "Ready, young one?" and with a simple nod, we let the wind guide my petals to the entrance of the temple.

Upon reappearing at the base of the the stairs, Steven eagerly led me to the door. He exploded with joy, "Guys, I found a cool outer space crystal man!" I would normally correct someone, but in this case, I to prepare to confrontation. "Who are you?" questioned? Demanded? It's hard to tell with the tall one that is colored red. "Black Lotus, at least that was what I was told when I emerged." I said simply, tactically decided to remain in place. I can easily take three of them on, but I would prefer to avoid confrontation, and I can clearly see that everything will go smoothly. Steven motioned me to enter their home, and noticed that the four of them decided to take a seat on their couch. "Would you like anything to drink?" asked Steven. I quickly glanced at the three, all of them being on edge but restrained at the same time. "I'll take a bowl of water, young one," and with that Steven left. "Like I said earlier, I was told that I am a Black Lotus, however, many of the native people here have stated that I look like and 'Alex'. So I have resorted to going by Alex Lotus." The mixed gem simply put her hand to her chin while pearl white gem look suspiciously towards me. The amethyst colored gem seemed bored out of her mind, and I noticed that Steven was walking back from filling up a bowl of water. I carefully took the bowl and set it by my side, allowing the White Crystal Lotus Blossom to rest in the water, gathering nutrients. I look towards the mixed gem, "Look, it seems as if this was a bad idea. Maybe the future I saw was different that what I foresaw about us getting along, young one." I stood up and began to walk towards the door, carefully removing the water with the lotus blossom. I handed the bowl back to Steven keeping the water together with intense, isolated gravity. The water soon became a solid, allowing for the right conditions for the White Blossom to emerge. "I am older than you think I am," the fused on spoke relatively calmly, albiet through gritted teeth. I teasing smile creeps up on my face, "Then tell me, how is Crystal Diamond doing?" The fused one stopped whatever it was she was going to do. "Do you mean the Diamond Authority?" the pearl white gem responded, almost as if correcting me instead of clarifying. "No, that would imply a group, I mean a single being. In this case Crystal Diamond." This got my attention, I left the Gem Homeworld under the trust of Crystal Diamond, what could have happened to her. I immediately froze. Memories began to flood from 5 billion years ago, how she allowed for the surviving Crystal Blossoms to make themselves at home on their planet. "What happened to your Homeworld in the past 2 to 3 billion years?" I asked with sterness rising in my voice. Immediately the pearl gem step forth, I simply slammed her into the wall, making her retreat into her gem in the process. The fused gem summoned her weapons as well as the purple gem. "You've made a huge mistake!" the purple one said; her battle cry was short lived, to say the least. "I know you have an answer Garnet, and I know for a fact that you will spill."

His voice was dark, cold, and piercing disregarding the fact that he was speaking at indoor levels. The young fused gem began to punch, "I wont let you hurt Steven!" she said. She punched twice, and proceeded to stay in place. "I have no need to hurt the young hybrid, I want to know what has happened since I left." At this point he lifted the fusion, removing her sunglasses, fear encompassed all three of her eyes. She struggled for a while, "Why can't-" he cut her off. "Because the current area we are in will not allow you to retreat to your gems, and vice-versa." He paused and met her gaze again, "That is if you tell me what you know."

A few minutes passed, and he noticed that the water had been almost been completely consumed by the White Crystal Blossom. She began to cease struggling and shuddering in fear. "I don't know..." she began. He immediately dropped the stasis field allowing everyone to reform. He turned and found White Lotus fully formed guarding the young boy. "I heard what happened," began White Lotus, her eyes downcast; she excused herself from the room.

Garnet finally composed herself, "I'm Garnet, I'm sorry for meeting like this." She extended her arm, and the other two were about to complain, but they stopped upon looking at their leader. "The name is Pearl," the white gem said. "And mine's Amethyst." His mood began to lighten, and with a deep breath, he was able to form a coherent conversation. "You said something about a Diamond Authority," he began as he turned towards Pearl, as he turned towards Pearl. "Who makes up the Diamond Authority?" Pearl pause, gathering her thought, "Well, the Diamond Authority is composed of the, currently, three ruling Diamonds that rule Homeworld and most of the Universe." he processed this information, and began to think back to 2 billion years ago. There was only one ruling Diamond with her Pearl companion. Same with the other gems, Saphires with their Rubies, Amethysts with Jaspers, and others among themselves. He remembered that even if the 'pairings' wasn't tradition, it wasn't looked down upon. He remembered that, although the planet was massive, there was a lot of unclaimed area. "What color are the Diamonds that currently reside?" he asked, gathering all facts in my head. "White, Yellow and Blue," all three responded, as if programmed into them. "White, Yellow and Blue?" his voice trailed at the end. All of those colors pertain to.. "..Crystal Diamond." Everything began to fall together, like a puzzle. "She became fragmented." Now everything made sense. Why other life forms in space cantinas talked about a once graceful and kind ruler turned cold. And how in her wake, two or three more seemed to appear. The conversation of this revelation began to wane, and I notice that White Blossom came back into the room with Steven in tow. He took one long look at White Blossom, and she came up walking to me, "I'm going to miss this young one." Garnet cleared her throat and adjusted her glasses, "You two are free to stay, however, we can only offer the bathroom as a room." He cringed, he knew what humans do in there, but it was better than being inside cave. They accepted their hospitality and excused themselves to their new room.

"Black Lotus," began White Lotus, "I don't think I will keep my form, again." Her eyes went downcast. They both know that she was made to form prematurely; he still has hope, and he won't lose that.


	3. A Broken Mirror A Broken Gem

In an instant, Lapis created a large hand of water and with anger boiling over, she slammed it down onto the three gems. The hand never connected, and within an instant the water became heavy solid then condensed to nothing. Alex tutted to the rhythms of his finger waving in a no pattern. "Attacking your liberator isn't a sign of being thankful you know." His voice was full of teasing arrogance, it annoyed the blue gem to no extent. Within the blink of an eye, the surrounding area around them received a slightly darker tint, only noticed by the blue gem and Garnet. Once the field passed by, the water that had solidified was seen again, this time back in its liquid state. "They didn't-" but before Lapis could finish Alex butted in, "But Steven would have immediately died." There was an obvious inner turmoil raging behind her eyes, pale disks missing definition of its irises. She shook the thoughts from her head and pleaded for Steven to follow, trying to get the sea to obey her. "Steven, come with me. They are dangerous," her voice slowly dying within her throat. "Am I really that weak from my cracked gem that I can't control the ocean?" Alex began to approach the sea gem. "I know that you are scared, angry and annoyed," his voice piercing her thoughts. As he got closer a feeling of dread began to blossom inside of her, his eyes slowly opening to reveal pitch black, with a feint orb outlining his iris. "However, as long as we remain here, you will not attack, or use your magic. The future I see is that you will return with us, to at the very least speak." His voice was cold, soulless, and cut deep into one's self, and within the instant the dark tint was released, his eyes went back to being closed and disappearing into his form. Lapis didn't try to run or fight. "You three," his voice stern making the fusion, the pearl and the amethyst gems stand straight with attention, "I expect this to be the last of this childish behavior. I hope I do not need to explain myself."

Back at the living room five sat down, Steven near Lapis and the three Crystal Gems together. Garnet had her stoic expression on like she usually does, Pearl looked annoyed and Amethyst sat and with an angry and bored expression. "So," Alex broke the silence, "from the top, Lapis is a Home world gem, that has been trapped in a mirror for about 5000 years. Her gem cracked somewhere between her arriving here, but before she was trapped in the mirror by the Crystal Gem legion." There was no question to be clarified, it was a statement. Alex turned to Lapis, "You want to return but can't because your gem is cracked." Lapis nodded. Alex turned to the Crystal Gems and requested some private time. "Look, she has done no wrong to any," Alex said raising his hand to quiet Pearl before she was able to speak, "And just 'cause she's a Home world Gem, does not make her evil." He looked at all three, Garnet understood, and Pearl and Amethyst accepted that fact. "I understand that you are worried that she will spill about there being more gems here on Earth," Alex began once again raising his hand before Garnet could add anything to that statement, "However, Lapis knows that if she were to tell the the Diamonds, or anyone with power about you gems, then that would put Steven in danger." He allowed them to process the information as he walked out. "You may state your decision, once all three of you can agree with each other," and with that Alex left the room and returned to Steven and Lapis.

The gems returned to the living room after and apologized to Lapis about what had happened. "Unfortunately sorry doesn't cut the fact that I spent 5000 years in that mirror." There was a waning anger in her voice, "But, I appreciate the fact that you apologized for your actions." Alex stood, clearing his throat, "Well then, now you have a choice to make, you can either return to Home world or stay here on Earth." Without even batting an eyelash, she set course for Home world. Alex turned to Garnet, "I can see that you aren't happy with these events, even if you can clearly see them." Garnet's body relaxed ever so slightly, "You can see into the future?" her voice much more cautious at this information. "If that's what you want to call it, then yes. I can totally see into the near future." Alex turned to make his way to the darkened beach.

Steven followed Alex towards the shore. He eventually caught up, "Hey Alex!" The young flower turned and looked at the young boy. A small smile appeared on his face as he ruffled Steven's hair. "Do not fret, she will return (I hope)" Alex reassured the young boy, as they both let the winds of the sea caress them into sleep.

It had been a few months since everyone has seen of Lapis. Life had eventually returned to normal for Steven. Connie had began to take sword fighting lessons from Pearl. Alex and Steven would sit in and watch, Alex mostly silently criticizing with how Pearl fights. Steven began to show worry as the lessons progressed. "Hey Alex?" Steven quietly questioned the flower to get his attention. Alex turned to meet Steven, "Don't you think that Pearl's teachings are..." his voice trailed off. Alex turned back to the field and began to eavesdrop onto what Pearl was telling Connie. "...Remember, when you fight for somebody, you are prepared to die." Connie seemed to take this to heart, nodding her head to show that she understood. "Wait here Steven," Alex said as he calmly began to leave the bleachers. Connie began to fight a Holo-Pearl, a creation that Pearl uses for training. Just as Holo-Pearl was about to strike Connie, Alex appeared, blocking the attack. "Another challenger?" The Holo-Pearl stepped back and Alex took a step forwards. "Come on, I'm waiting," said Alex as step forth. The Holo-Pearl kept taking a step back, "Unknown entity has been acknowledged." However the Holo-Pearl never took a step forth, instead another step back before her programming ended. Pearl stepped into the arena, "I'm ashamed in you Connie. You let your guard down and Alex had to save you!" Before Connie could respond, Alex interjected, "You should be ashamed of yourself, Pearl." Alex pointed towards Steven who had ran away before Alex blocked Connie's hit. "Go talk with Steven, he isn't amused with the training style, your training style." Pearl was going to argue about her needing to teach Connie, "I'll be here with Connie. I'm pretty sure that you would rather make sure that Steven is okay, you know, before Garnet finds out." With those little words, Pearl began to run towards Steven, calling his name.

Connie looked up to Alex, "Do you know any fighting styles?" There was as hunger in her eyes when asking that question. Alex contemplated whether to teach her anything or not, "It's not that I don't know, it's more of the fact that I have a different fighting style than Pearl." There was a pause while he thought about the idea of teaching her sword fighting. "You see, Pearl can be very flashy. Using dance moves similar to that ballet. However, whenever I use a bladed weapon, I'm to the point. Pun not intended." Connie didn't seem to understand. Alex sighed and relaxed his muscles. He allowed himself to split into two people, the clone grabbing Pearl's dropped sword, and the other taking Connie's. "You see, Pearl likes a smooth flow, elegance in her step," as he explained, the copy began to mimic a Pearl like approach to sword fighting, though more similar to fencing. "I prefer something that requires the user to be much more grounded." With the copy across from Alex holding the saber with one hand, Alex approach, forcing the sword to reshape itself. A longer handle appeared, and the blade became slightly thicker, with an angled tip at the end. Connie took note of his posture, hands up similar to that of a boxer's, allowing the blade to act as a shield between the enemy and his face. The copy moved forwards, caution was extruded from his body as he approached the original. Alex took a swipe at the clone who parried it with ease. Both then began to tune themselves into a rhythm, each playing a careful game of space. A few seconds passed with both simply moving in, throwing a punch or a kick and moving out. Sometimes there was an attempt to slash at each other. "I hope that you are noticing what we are doing." Alex brought Connie from her thoughts, and began to analyze the fight before her. Both began to move with much more fluidity, nothing like Pearl but still it was fluid and each step was confident. Eventually both of them stopped, "Connie do you understand what is going on?" Connie shook her head, which earn a slight chuckle from both. "Once again!"

This went on two hours, Steven and Pearl finally returning back to the arena. "...I'm sorry Steven. I should have noticed that Connie isn't like us." Steven was reassuring her that everything was now fine. Both stopped when they came to the arena, witnessing two copies of Alex moving around each other, in and out. An intricate dance before one would go in an do a basic punch or kick. Each time there was a dodge. If Alex went in and punched, the copy would side step it. If the copy would go in for a kick, Alex would dash away. This went on until Connie finally explained, "You two are adjusting to how both of you react to attacks!" Both began to smile and slightly ruffled her hair. "You got the first part down, now for the other two!" And once again the dance began. "What are you two doing?" asked Pearl as she approached the bleachers. Without stopping Alex began to explain, "I'm trying to get Connie to understand what is going on right now, before we get to the actual fighting part." Connie kept taking notes, keep on your toes, keep your posture straight and relaxed. Stay on alert, concentrate. This time, when the copy went for a thrust, Alex didn't make a move to get away from the blade. It never reached him, and instead the copy retracted his arm to be back in a neutral position for defense. This dance continued, until Alex decided that he wanted to take a swing, and with a powerful swipe downwards, he hit the copy's sword; Alex could have beat the clone if he followed up with his own thrust. "That's not the point of this exercise, Pearl." They continued to do the same, slowly getting closer with each swing and thrust. Alex then decided to stop to take a break, not for himself but more for Connie. "Okay Connie, I think that you have seen enough," Alex had extended his arm for Connie to take. Upon reaching the arena once again, the clone returned to Alex and this time Connie taking its place. "We wont move much, that way you can get used to fighting." Slowly but surely, Connie began to get used to moving while fighting, making her much less predictable, and keeping her active. She took a few swipes towards Alex, and noticed that he was too far from her, however when Alex tried to take a swing at her, she had to move out of the way. "Good, you have learned the second part subconsciously. The whole point of movement and taking jabs at your opponent to to get a gauge of distance. Some blades will be longer that what you have, it's always good to make sure that you know your range as well as theirs." Connie nodded, finally making sense of what was happening earlier. "There is another reason, a final one that I will let your learn for today. Let's begin again!" Connie then started the duel with Alex, and they continued to fight. Connie then began to notice Alex's movements in their neutral stance start to get sluggish. She took a swing, and a smile began to radiate from Alex, "You are a natural! The last reason is so that you can get a read of your opponent. Not for attacks, but for their stamina levels. In many duels, even human ones, is the sword fighter notices exhaustion from their opponent, they will use that against them to end the fight early. This will allow you to conserve energy while eliminating the enemy." I turned back too Pearl, "She may or may not be extremely tired by now, but you may continue with your tutelage."


	4. Leaving for Home

In an instant, Lapis created a large hand of water and with anger boiling over, she slammed it down onto the three gems. The hand never connected, and within an instant the water became heavy solid then condensed to nothing. Alex tutted to the rhythms of his finger waving in a no pattern. "Attacking your liberator isn't a sign of being thankful you know." His voice was full of teasing arrogance, it annoyed the blue gem to no extent. Within the blink of an eye, the surrounding area around them received a slightly darker tint, only noticed by the blue gem and Garnet. Once the field passed by, the water that had solidified was seen again, this time back in its liquid state. "They didn't-" but before Lapis could finish Alex butted in, "But Steven would have immediately died." There was an obvious inner turmoil raging behind her eyes, pale disks missing definition of its irises. She shook the thoughts from her head and pleaded for Steven to follow, trying to get the sea to obey her. "Steven, come with me. They are dangerous," her voice slowly dying within her throat. "Am I really that weak from my cracked gem that I can't control the ocean?" Alex began to approach the sea gem. "I know that you are scared, angry and annoyed," his voice piercing her thoughts. As he got closer a feeling of dread began to blossom inside of her, his eyes slowly opening to reveal pitch black, with a feint orb outlining his iris. "However, as long as we remain here, you will not attack, or use your magic. The future I see is that you will return with us, to at the very least speak." His voice was cold, soulless, and cut deep into one's self, and within the instant the dark tint was released, his eyes went back to being closed and disappearing into his form. Lapis didn't try to run or fight. "You three," his voice stern making the fusion, the pearl and the amethyst gems stand straight with attention, "I expect this to be the last of this childish behavior. I hope I do not need to explain myself."

Back at the living room five sat down, Steven near Lapis and the three Crystal Gems together. Garnet had her stoic expression on like she usually does, Pearl looked annoyed and Amethyst sat and with an angry and bored expression. "So," Alex broke the silence, "from the top, Lapis is a Home world gem, that has been trapped in a mirror for about 5000 years. Her gem cracked somewhere between her arriving here, but before she was trapped in the mirror by the Crystal Gem legion." There was no question to be clarified, it was a statement. Alex turned to Lapis, "You want to return but can't because your gem is cracked." Lapis nodded. Alex turned to the Crystal Gems and requested some private time. "Look, she has done no wrong to any," Alex said raising his hand to quiet Pearl before she was able to speak, "And just 'cause she's a Home world Gem, does not make her evil." He looked at all three, Garnet understood, and Pearl and Amethyst accepted that fact. "I understand that you are worried that she will spill about there being more gems here on Earth," Alex began once again raising his hand before Garnet could add anything to that statement, "However, Lapis knows that if she were to tell the the Diamonds, or anyone with power about you gems, then that would put Steven in danger." He allowed them to process the information as he walked out. "You may state your decision, once all three of you can agree with each other," and with that Alex left the room and returned to Steven and Lapis.

The gems returned to the living room after and apologized to Lapis about what had happened. "Unfortunately sorry doesn't cut the fact that I spent 5000 years in that mirror." There was a waning anger in her voice, "But, I appreciate the fact that you apologized for your actions." Alex stood, clearing his throat, "Well then, now you have a choice to make, you can either return to Home world or stay here on Earth." Without even batting an eyelash, she set course for Home world. Alex turned to Garnet, "I can see that you aren't happy with these events, even if you can clearly see them." Garnet's body relaxed ever so slightly, "You can see into the future?" her voice much more cautious at this information. "If that's what you want to call it, then yes. I can totally see into the near future." Alex turned to make his way to the darkened beach.

Steven followed Alex towards the shore. He eventually caught up, "Hey Alex!" The young flower turned and looked at the young boy. A small smile appeared on his face as he ruffled Steven's hair. "Do not fret, she will return (I hope)" Alex reassured the young boy, as they both let the winds of the sea caress them into sleep.

It had been a few months since everyone has seen of Lapis. Life had eventually returned to normal for Steven. Connie had began to take sword fighting lessons from Pearl. Alex and Steven would sit in and watch, Alex mostly silently criticizing with how Pearl fights. Steven began to show worry as the lessons progressed. "Hey Alex?" Steven quietly questioned the flower to get his attention. Alex turned to meet Steven, "Don't you think that Pearl's teachings are..." his voice trailed off. Alex turned back to the field and began to eavesdrop onto what Pearl was telling Connie. "...Remember, when you fight for somebody, you are prepared to die." Connie seemed to take this to heart, nodding her head to show that she understood. "Wait here Steven," Alex said as he calmly began to leave the bleachers. Connie began to fight a Holo-Pearl, a creation that Pearl uses for training. Just as Holo-Pearl was about to strike Connie, Alex appeared, blocking the attack. "Another challenger?" The Holo-Pearl stepped back and Alex took a step forwards. "Come on, I'm waiting," said Alex as step forth. The Holo-Pearl kept taking a step back, "Unknown entity has been acknowledged." However the Holo-Pearl never took a step forth, instead another step back before her programming ended. Pearl stepped into the arena, "I'm ashamed in you Connie. You let your guard down and Alex had to save you!" Before Connie could respond, Alex interjected, "You should be ashamed of yourself, Pearl." Alex pointed towards Steven who had ran away before Alex blocked Connie's hit. "Go talk with Steven, he isn't amused with the training style, your training style." Pearl was going to argue about her needing to teach Connie, "I'll be here with Connie. I'm pretty sure that you would rather make sure that Steven is okay, you know, before Garnet finds out." With those little words, Pearl began to run towards Steven, calling his name.

Connie looked up to Alex, "Do you know any fighting styles?" There was as hunger in her eyes when asking that question. Alex contemplated whether to teach her anything or not, "It's not that I don't know, it's more of the fact that I have a different fighting style than Pearl." There was a pause while he thought about the idea of teaching her sword fighting. "You see, Pearl can be very flashy. Using dance moves similar to that ballet. However, whenever I use a bladed weapon, I'm to the point. Pun not intended." Connie didn't seem to understand. Alex sighed and relaxed his muscles. He allowed himself to split into two people, the clone grabbing Pearl's dropped sword, and the other taking Connie's. "You see, Pearl likes a smooth flow, elegance in her step," as he explained, the copy began to mimic a Pearl like approach to sword fighting, though more similar to fencing. "I prefer something that requires the user to be much more grounded." With the copy across from Alex holding the saber with one hand, Alex approach, forcing the sword to reshape itself. A longer handle appeared, and the blade became slightly thicker, with an angled tip at the end. Connie took note of his posture, hands up similar to that of a boxer's, allowing the blade to act as a shield between the enemy and his face. The copy moved forwards, caution was extruded from his body as he approached the original. Alex took a swipe at the clone who parried it with ease. Both then began to tune themselves into a rhythm, each playing a careful game of space. A few seconds passed with both simply moving in, throwing a punch or a kick and moving out. Sometimes there was an attempt to slash at each other. "I hope that you are noticing what we are doing." Alex brought Connie from her thoughts, and began to analyze the fight before her. Both began to move with much more fluidity, nothing like Pearl but still it was fluid and each step was confident. Eventually both of them stopped, "Connie do you understand what is going on?" Connie shook her head, which earn a slight chuckle from both. "Once again!"

This went on two hours, Steven and Pearl finally returning back to the arena. "...I'm sorry Steven. I should have noticed that Connie isn't like us." Steven was reassuring her that everything was now fine. Both stopped when they came to the arena, witnessing two copies of Alex moving around each other, in and out. An intricate dance before one would go in an do a basic punch or kick. Each time there was a dodge. If Alex went in and punched, the copy would side step it. If the copy would go in for a kick, Alex would dash away. This went on until Connie finally explained, "You two are adjusting to how both of you react to attacks!" Both began to smile and slightly ruffled her hair. "You got the first part down, now for the other two!" And once again the dance began. "What are you two doing?" asked Pearl as she approached the bleachers. Without stopping Alex began to explain, "I'm trying to get Connie to understand what is going on right now, before we get to the actual fighting part." Connie kept taking notes, keep on your toes, keep your posture straight and relaxed. Stay on alert, concentrate. This time, when the copy went for a thrust, Alex didn't make a move to get away from the blade. It never reached him, and instead the copy retracted his arm to be back in a neutral position for defense. This dance continued, until Alex decided that he wanted to take a swing, and with a powerful swipe downwards, he hit the copy's sword; Alex could have beat the clone if he followed up with his own thrust. "That's not the point of this exercise, Pearl." They continued to do the same, slowly getting closer with each swing and thrust. Alex then decided to stop to take a break, not for himself but more for Connie. "Okay Connie, I think that you have seen enough," Alex had extended his arm for Connie to take. Upon reaching the arena once again, the clone returned to Alex and this time Connie taking its place. "We wont move much, that way you can get used to fighting." Slowly but surely, Connie began to get used to moving while fighting, making her much less predictable, and keeping her active. She took a few swipes towards Alex, and noticed that he was too far from her, however when Alex tried to take a swing at her, she had to move out of the way. "Good, you have learned the second part subconsciously. The whole point of movement and taking jabs at your opponent to to get a gauge of distance. Some blades will be longer that what you have, it's always good to make sure that you know your range as well as theirs." Connie nodded, finally making sense of what was happening earlier. "There is another reason, a final one that I will let your learn for today. Let's begin again!" Connie then started the duel with Alex, and they continued to fight. Connie then began to notice Alex's movements in their neutral stance start to get sluggish. She took a swing, and a smile began to radiate from Alex, "You are a natural! The last reason is so that you can get a read of your opponent. Not for attacks, but for their stamina levels. In many duels, even human ones, is the sword fighter notices exhaustion from their opponent, they will use that against them to end the fight early. This will allow you to conserve energy while eliminating the enemy." I turned back too Pearl, "She may or may not be extremely tired by now, but you may continue with your tutelage."


	5. A Runaway Arrives

Connie begun to make amazing development in sword fighting. Although not as strong as Pearl, she was able to keep up with her with only her stamina being her limiting factor. "So Connie," Alex approached the young girl, "How goes training?" She finished drinking her juice and water before answering, "It's going quite well, I've learned all of the basics and Pearl says that if I pass this upcoming test, then she will not have much more for me to learn." Alex seemed surprised by this, "Is Pearl not going to teach you other forms? You do realize that there is more than one way to fight other than fencing or whatever it is that Pearl has taught you, right?" It had been a while since Alex had seen Connie's progression, truly amazing that in such a short time, she had learned the basics of sword fighting. From what I've heard Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst talk about when they return from the arena, is mostly of the fact that they are impressed with her progression. "Actually, I have found something that I find natural to me, while still apply the basics that you and Pearl have taught me." There was a big smile on her face as she explained everything.

Steven was now entering the arena after taking a shower in hopes of letting his muscles relax. "How do you feel young one?" Alex asked the young boy. He had Steven do basic exercises in order to build up his stamina to that of Connie's. "Still a little sore, but it was fun doing the obstacle courses!" Pearl gave me a quizzical look, "He wants to be able to fight alongside Connie. So I decided that it was fine to give him conditioning training." Pearl was about to retort some form of disagreement, "Don't worry. He's just been running, and doing basic strength exercises that only require his body weight." Pearl seemed a bit more relaxed now. "I don't think that he will be a fighter," Alex began as he looked on to see Connie fight against Holo-Pearl. "But, he will if he has to. I think making him able to keep up should be enough for now. He's going to be sore, so most likely he wont be joining any missions with you three tomorrow or the day after." Pearl simply nodded as she looked on to the arena , where Connie was seen to easily down her third Holo-Pearl. The fight didn't take long to end. In about five minutes, Connie had dealt with six Holo-Pearls but wasn't overly exhausted like when she first started out. "Well done, young one," Alex applauded and Steven gave her one of signature cheers. Ignoring his sore muscles, Steven ran to give Connie a hug, before the pain caught up with him. As if on queue, Garnet appear before us stating that there was a problem followed by a massive impact. "How did that thing follow me?" asked a perplexed Garnet as she dashed into battle. I stopped near Steven, "Remember what I've been teaching you in order to be able to last longer in the exercises?" Steven nodded, "Controlled breaths and keep a clear mind focused on the objective in front," I nodded. I then turned to Connie, "I believe in you, both of you." With that Alex made his way to the center turning back one last time, "This is also good experience for you Connie, study the fight if one breaks out." Connie nodded and watched as Pearl and Garnet stood before a red figure.

"Remain alert," Alex stated as he made his way in front of the two gems. "Careful," began Garnet as she began to brief the two of us in how this enemy was able to easily subdue Amethyst. Alex's features suggested focus of trying to identify the enemy. "Another one lives?" The red one began as he assumed a defensive fighting stance. Alex made no move to attack, "If by another one lives you mean a Crystal Blossom," pausing in order to make sure that he understood, "then yes, there is another one." The red on charged towards Alex who simply caught his fist mid punch. The red one was able to break the grab by punching low and pulling on his grabbed fist. This forced Alex to let go and avoid the punch. Alex also assumed a fighting stance, and like Connie and Pearl had once witnessed, the dance began once again.

"They are doing the thing," explained to Steven as she saw how both moved. Each going in trying something to break their defense. This time it was much faster, and they were much more aggressive about it. Alex would go in for a punch and kept the other arm up in case the other tried to get a hit in. "You know," began Steven, "This is beginning to look like one of those fighting matches that Onion likes to watch." The fight progressed and eventually Garnet jumped in, rampaging and letting her anger out and she desperately tried to punch the enemy. "No Garnet!" and as if on instinct Alex dashed blocking the powerful hit for Garnet. "This isn't a fight that you can win, not while being complete engulfed in anger." Pearl rushed to Garnet's side, "Why don't you put up that field so that he can't use his charged up attacks?" asked Pearl as Alex dealt with the red alien. Between breaths and strikes Alex explained, "He isn't using powers, what you saw was his strength!" In that instance, the red one performed a heavy hit causing Alex to lose his balance and then get hit in the face. The red one seemed slightly angered, "You let me hit you," it wasn't a question nor a revelation, just a statement. At once Alex appeared in front of the red one, punching him hard in the stomach, making him double over in pain. "You are much younger than expected you know," began Alex before the other dashed towards Alex with equal speed. The fight that Connie remembered when training was replaying in her mind as she watched both of the fighters go at it. "What of it," retorted the red being as he took another swing at Alex dashing out of his reach. A smirk appeared on Alex's face, but the red one couldn't register it before he felt a powerful kick at his face sending him a couple of feet away. "I thought the Bouquet was destroyed long ago, no I know that it was destroyed long ago." Alex stepped forth as his opponent stepped back and blocked Alex's punch. "I saw the system of stars get swallowed whole by the singularity then collapse on itself destroying the galaxy with it as waves of radiation pulsated out." The red one faltered giving Alex the opportunity, side stepping the red one's punch and hitting him a hook uppercut, sending him flying in a corkscrew.

Everyone was hovering over the unconscious body of the red shaded figure. Alex was looking over him alongside Steven. "Is he going to be okay?" asked the timid boy. Alex didn't truly know, but had faith that he would wake soon. Alex asked Steven to gather a glass of water for him and left the two of them alone. Alex gazed down upon the red being. "He look like one of the Crystal Blossoms," Alex began explaining to the returning Steven. "He looks like a Red Rose Soldier, a young one too." Alex steeled his nerves in order to continue with his story, "He said that he was looking for home. He seems to have been born after the blast, a distance far enough away to be planted, but close enough to the galaxy that is now gone." Alex simply looked at the currently unconscious Blossom, closing his eyes and hoping that everything will be fine.


	6. Catching Up with Everything

The Red Rose warrior awoke from his slumber clutching his head as he sat up. "Careful now," spoke a soft voice, his surroundings still a mystery to the warrior. He let his eyes adjust to the light of the room before turning around in search for the voice. To his surprise, another Blossom stood before him, and another in its flower form placed in a container of sorts. The black colored being began to turn a few contraptions allowing for water to run, to which he made his way towards. "Thank you," came a raspy voice from his being. "The name's Alex," began the dark figure, "I am a Black Lotus, born about 13 billion years ago, give or take a few million." The Red Rose soldier stood, gathering his balance and strength, "I am a red rose, I have no name. But something tells me that you already knew that." Alex nodded as he closed off the valves in the sink. "Welcome to Earth, a planet that makes welcome beings of flesh and muscle and other botanical life forms." Alex led the young warrior and he began to tell his tale, " I was born a few million years back on a white planet. There was no official name for it, just Home. Life was fine, but something happened to the leader," Alex stopped, leaves beginning to raise from his back similar to goosebumps. "After some sort of diplomatic meeting, the leader came back declaring war on a colony that we were trading with. We ended up winning that war, but something happened to our leader, grief and despair broke her, separating her into four rulers." Alex knew what planet the red warrior was referring to, his hand unconsciously squeezing the warrior's hand. Alex brought his hand closer to himself, "I'm assuming that there were others of you?" The red warrior nodded, taking it as a sign to continue on with the story. "When the leader returned from the DMZ, she noticed a field of gems shattered across trying to reform, turning into monstrosities that she found unfathomable. Others were screaming and begging her to help their fallen beloved. The other flowers that survived with missing arms, legs, sometimes even half of their bodies survived and even regenerated back to their normal bodies, however the queen didn't like the fact that we were able to regenerate. Grief stricken, she evaporated every flower she came across." The red warrior took a minute to gather himself emotionally, Alex putting a supportive hand behind his back. "Many of us were told to hide, I was smaller back then as was able to save myself from her wrath of destruction. Within a week, all remaining flowers were either killed on the spot or became slaves for her. They were terraformers for a while before malnutrition killed them. I was able to escape using one of their pods leaving for the southern part of the galaxy. Took me a couple thousand years, but eventually made it to this planet, and the rest you know." Alex nodded taking into account everything that has happened, it was all so much. "How can you live in peace with these beings of light and rock?" Disgust was dripping from the last sentence. "You see, last I left the Gem home planet, they were living in happiness. I just found out what happened. I've stayed and overlooked this planet for most of my life, leaving only to visit other informants about possible whereabout of more flower people apart from the gem home planet." Alex took a deep breath, "I was gone during an apparent war that took place here, between the Homeworld Gems and what the remaining Crystal Gems." I sat down and explained what had happened from what I was told by Garnet and Pearl.

A few hours had passed by, and while Alex and the red warrior spoke, they noticed the gems and Steven appear from the warp pad. "How was the mission?" asked Alex, not paying much mind to them. "It would have gone better if we captured Peridot," grumbled Amethyst and she made her way to the fridge to grab a snack. Alex turned back to the red warrior, "Would you like to indulge in a tour of the nearby sights?" The warrior stood nodding, Alex then turning to Steven, "Care to join?" Steven had stars for eyes and quickly gathered things to take with him. Alex then changed to his human disguise, allowing the warrior to examine and copy the disguise. "All right, looks good on ya!" replied Alex with a much more relaxed tone, then changing a few details of his disguise to make it look as if twins with the warrior. "Let's get going!" yelled Steven as he made a mad dash to the door.

The sunlight that radiated from the afternoon sun began to immediately perk up the red warrior, making him feel much better. "You will need a name, to blend in," Making Steven go into deep thought. After some thought, and with the Big Donut nearing Steven stated that ' William" and 'Will' for short would be adequate. The usual stops were made, as Steven and Alex explained to Will human mannerisms and and habits. Unspoken rules were explained, and eventually, Will began to fit in with people. The three made a stop to an electronics store in order to obtain a cellphone for Alex and Will, "We will need these to stay in contact," explained Steven as he paid for them with the money received from his father. The sun was now setting before them, signaling that they needed to return to the temple. "We'll be sleeping outside Steven," and good-nights were said.

The day arrived, and with the sun barely allowing its rays to paint the sky, both flowers awoke. "Morning young one," greeted Alex extending a hand for Will to exit his protective leaves. Both entered Steven's home and notice a sense of emptiness, apart from Steven sleeping in the loft. The warp pad then shone its bright light as the three gems returned from their mission. "Gather 'round people, we got important news," called Garnet's voice as she made her way to the unofficial meeting room, the living room. "We have good news and bad news," Garnet turned to everyone to make sure all were listening. "The good news is that the mission went as planned, we captured the corrupted gem and gathered the wailing stone that I found on my radar." There was a small clap coming from Steven which then slowed in order to allow Garnet to continue on with the news. "The bad news is that we don't have a way to decode the message," Garnet once again paused then turning to both Alex and William. "We were wondering if you could help us find a way to decode this message. I understand that both of you have lived for many years, and that experience could help us if this were an emergency." Both Will and Alex looked at each other, both nodding in agreement, "Of course we'll help," began Alex as Will finished for him, "it's the least we could do for giving us shelter and food." With all now said, and Steven also agreeing to find help, the six of them left in hopes to find a lead to break the code of the wailing stone.


End file.
